The invention relates to a method and system for evaluating a product design. The task of generating, evaluating and implementing a product design is a formidable one. Typically, product designs are generated by design personnel and put through a process often referred to as design review. In design review, individuals skilled in design, production, inspection, packaging, etc. evaluate designs. This often leads to re-design and further design review cycles delaying new product introduction. Once a product design is selected, prototypes may be produced using different materials and/or manufacturing processes. Although the selection of materials and manufacturing processes is performed by those skilled in the art, this process is still an iterative trial and error process that often results in changes to the design accompanied by additional prototyping. This cycle delays new product introduction and is often focused on internal metrics rather than customer metrics.
A product design may be represented by product factors (e.g., material, processing parameters, dimensions) that affect product responses (e.g., cost, performance). The factors and responses define a design space. Much of the above-described iterative cycle conventionally performed in the art is an attempt to locate a region in the design space in which product factors and product responses are within desired limits or constraints. While locating a region in a design space where design criteria are met is helpful, there may exist an optimum point in the design space where responses are optimized thus enhancing the product. Thus, there is a need in the art for a system that improves designs by allowing a designer to optimize responses.
An exemplary embodiment of the invention is a method for providing network based optimization tools. The method may be implemented in a system having a user system connected to a host system by a network and a transfer function database accessible by the host system. The method includes presenting the user system with an application setup screen including application fields having predefined application parameters. The user system is presented with at least one transfer function descriptor in response to user-selected predefined application parameters. The user system is presented with a factor and a response in response to a user-selected transfer function. The responses are recalculated in response to the user system altering a value associated with a factor or a response. Also disclosed are a system and storage medium for implementing the method.